


Life After the Curse

by yuki_onna_sicarius



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: F/M, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-20
Updated: 2019-04-20
Packaged: 2019-12-18 16:03:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18253178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yuki_onna_sicarius/pseuds/yuki_onna_sicarius
Summary: A year after the Mighty Nein broke Beau's curse, everyone's lives are quite wonderful. Milo is growing quickly, Fjord and Jester are engaged, and everyone is happy. But where there is happiness for this family lies also darkness waiting to taint that happiness.





	Life After the Curse

**Author's Note:**

> so when I first wrote this I was really tired and didn't realize I hadn't set it to multiple chapters :P

The world was on fire. All around him, it burned and blazed, lighting up the night sky in terrifying orange and red and yellow, licking painfully at his skin. Caleb tried to move his arms, to summon any arcane water, or _anything_  to put it out, but nothing. He couldn't move. His limbs felt like lead and no matter how much he begged his body and tried to fight whatever was holding him in place, he couldn't move.

The sound of a baby's cries, their  _wails_ , could be heard in the distance, though not far off. Still rooted in place, he turned his head toward the sound to find both Molly and Milo fighting to escape a burning building, but they wouldn't make it. Caleb could see it, they wouldn't make it out in time. They may be fire resistant, but that only meant they would suffer for longer, trapped within the confines of the fire they were desperately trying to escape. He tried to call out to them and again tried to move, but nothing happened. He was forced to watch his loved ones die.

Milo's screams swelled in a deafening crescendo until Caleb could no longer take it.

\-----

Bolting upright in bed, Caleb gasped for air, his heart beating painfully in his chest. He panted as he tried to configure himself to his surroundings, barely able to register the stirring in the bed beside him. He jumped slightly when he felt a warm hand on his shoulder, but relaxed when he turned to see who it belonged to.

Molly looked at him with concern, his head tilted slightly in question. Caleb could feel the sweat on his skin cooling uncomfortably, though he wasn't sure if that was what caused his shaking, or the dream. Noticing his discomfort, Molly pulled him closer so he could wrap his arms around him. "What happened?" he asked softly.

Now focused and oriented, Caleb realized he wasn't just dreaming that Milo had been crying, but that he actually  _was_ crying. Pulling away from Molly, he pressed a kiss to his lover's lips before standing from the bed, uttering a faint 'just a dream' and heading off to Milo's room.

As he moved from one room to another, a loud  _crash, boom!_ reverberated through the house. Milo's screams came louder now, scared of the thunder. Caleb opened the door to his room to find he was struggling to get off the bed, presumably to run to his parents' room for safety. Looking up at the noise, Milo reached out his arms, calming down to just soft whimpers now. Caleb walked to his bed and sat down with him, pulling him into his arms.

Another crack of thunder caused Milo to start crying loudly again, and Caleb couldn't blame him. It was a bad storm, the wind rattled the windows to the point he was scared they would shatter, the thunder was coming closer, and the rain pelted the window. It was much quieter in his and Molly's room, so he picked Milo up and carried him back to his room.

Molly was sitting up in bed when Caleb walked in with the still crying Milo, who looked eagerly over at his other parent. "Mama!" he exclaimed and reached out to him, cuddling closely with him when he was in his grasp. Caleb took his place at the other side of the bed and crawled under the covers again, watching Milo fall back asleep, now comforted with both parents present.

"Now, are you going to tell me what really happened?" Caleb was thrown off by Molly's question. He looked over at him for a moment, the dream coming back to his mind. His gaze fell and he started playing with the blankets draped over his lap, not really wanting to share the dream, but also knowing he should. The two of them had been doing their damnedest to not keep secrets.

Caleb leaned back against the headboard, taking a deep breath. "It was just a dream," he insisted. Molly said nothing, letting the silence speak for him. Caleb raised a hand to inspect it, picturing the flames from the dream, but not conjuring them. He was satisfied with never calling upon them again. "Everything was burning. You and Milo were caught in the fire."

He flinched when he felt a hand caress his face and pulled away. He didn't deserve Molly's affection, not now, and honestly, not ever. How he'd ended up with him, Caleb didn't know, but why Molly stayed was an even bigger question for the wizard. In response, Molly pulled his hand away, but didn't look any less concerned.

"Caleb," he said gently, "Caleb, look at me." He hesitated for a moment, but finally raised his eyes to meet the bright red of Molly's. "Don't go to that dark place," Molly insisted. "We're safe, we're alive and unscathed, and like you said, it was just a dream." 

Not knowing what to say, Caleb leaned over and pressed a quick kiss to Molly's lips and laid back down. After a moment, Molly also laid down, closing his eyes and trying not to think about his own nightmare.

\-----

"We need to start planning!" Jester announced as she walked into the kitchen of Caleb and Molly's home. Molly turned to look at her in confusion, spatula frozen in place, forgetting to flip over his eggs. Caleb gave her a pointed look from the table where he was feeding Milo, who made an angry noise at him.

"What are we planning?" Molly asked, finally turning back to his food, which wasn't quite burned, but not how Molly liked it. Normally he might just throw it away, but he and Caleb were a bit tight on money at the moment.

Jester skipped over to the table and took Milo's food from Caleb to let him start eating his own food. Milo didn't mind the change in person feeding him, he just wanted his food. "My wedding, silly," Jester replied cheerily. "I need to start planning it right away!"

Molly put his eggs on a plate and made his way to the table, raising an eyebrow at her as he sat down. "Didn't you get engaged a week ago?" he asked.

"And you've only been together for three months," Caleb pointed out.

"Exactly. Aren't you two moving a bit fast?"

Jester pouted at him. "Everyone loves at different rates," she said in reply. "Besides, we've known each other much longer than we've been together."

Caleb and Molly exchanged a glance. They couldn't really argue with that, but knowing Jester, what she said didn't really line up with reality. Thankfully for Molly, Caleb was the one that spoke up. "Jester, you had a crush on  _your version_ of Fjord for the majority of your relationship. Perhaps you should take time to learn the real Fjord."

Jester blinked at him in confusion as he continued eating, not looking at her. When she realized she wasn't going to get his attention, she turned to Molly, who shrugged in response. "He's not wrong," he stated. "We've been together for a year now and we're  _still_ getting used to each other. I think you should hold off a bit. You need to see each other at your worst before you can decide if you're ready to be together for the rest of your lives."

Jester opened her mouth again, but Caleb spoke before she could. "There is no rush to get married," he pointed out. "Take your time, get to know each other. And move in together before then."

Jester snapped her mouth shut again. She couldn't argue with that. "I'm just so excited!" she squealed. "I've always wanted to have a wedding."

"The wedding only lasts one day," Molly pointed out. "The marriage lasts for as long as you let it."

Jester waved her hand dismissively. "Yeah, yeah," she replied. "I know, I just want to have a fun day, you know?"

Molly patted her shoulder. "You'll have many before then and many after," he assured her. "Until then, just enjoy the ride."

Jester let out a sigh, but nodded in understanding. "I guess you're right," she said, finally admitting defeat. "Now, there's something else I wanted to talk to you about!" she exclaimed, grabbing Molly's shoulder. "Just the two of us," she added toward Caleb, who raised an eyebrow, but made no move to protest or ask questions. Satisfied, she led Molly out of the room, though he looked longingly at his food on the table.

The house wasn't large, so Jester had a hard time choosing a place she felt was good and far enough away from Caleb, but she finally settled on going outside to the front porch. Molly got as comfortable as he could on the hard chair that was there, knowing Jester could go off on a tangent like no other. He wasn't even sure what she wanted to talk about privately, but he could guess it was something about Beau or something like that.

"So," she said when she sat down next to him.

"So," he answered, waiting for her to explain. Neither one of them spoke for a while before Jester realized she was supposed to lead the conversation.

"What's up with you and Caleb?" she asked. Molly's face scrunched up in confusion and he tilted his head at her. "I mean, you've been together for a year and you have a kid together, but you're not, y'know, _together_ together."

"What?" Molly asked, feeling a bit offended.

"You're not married," Jester pointed out. "I mean, it's been a year and Caleb hasn't asked, you haven't asked him, you're just...together. In a house."

"Jester," Molly said, rubbing his forehead, "you don't have to be married to be a couple."

"But don't you think it's weird?" He gave her an unamused look. "I mean, you both talk about how much you love each other, but haven't gotten married yet? We're dying here, Molly! A Widomauk wedding would be amazing!"

"Widomauk?" Molly asked.

"It's your couple's name," Jester replied with a cute grin on her face. "Don't you like it?"

"I...don't know..." Molly replied. He was about to say more, but when there was light pounding on the door his head snapped toward the sound.

"Mama!" Milo cried out, looking like he was distraught, tears falling down his face. Molly stood and made his way to the door, opening it so Milo could step out onto the porch.

"What's wrong, honey?" Molly asked, reaching down to take the tiny little hand reaching toward him, which was when he noticed he was sticky. How? "Caleb, why's Milo sticky!?" he yelled into the house.

"He got into the syrup!" Caleb called back. "I'm trying to clean up the mess!"

Molly sighed and turned back to Jester. "Never have children," he told her, then scooped Milo up to take him inside for a bath.


End file.
